Do we have any publicly published observations of electronic devices damaged by an EMP?

[GrahamF]

Stuff like pictures of a chip under a microscope and such, stuff that shows the physical damage. I know that general consensus is that electronics will be destroyed by an AMP, but I'd like to look up at what point or conditions would a device just need to be rebooted or if it will be unaffected. I'm wondering if work over the years to protect electronics from electrostatic shock would add some form of resistance to them?

Edited September 14, 2023 by GrahamF

[GrahamF]

If we don't have such clear observations, is it plausible that our current technology would be resilient enough that after an EMP attack we could just reboot our power grid and everything works fine?

[swansont]

You should be aware that a voltage spike is one manifestation of an EMP. Any electronics damaged by not having a surge protector could be an example. Protection from EMP can range from disturbances at a few hertz out to a GHz, through the air or through the wiring.

[studiot]

On 9/14/2023 at 11:56 PM, GrahamF said:

Stuff like pictures of a chip under a microscope and such, stuff that shows the physical damage. I know that general consensus is that electronics will be destroyed by an AMP, but I'd like to look up at what point or conditions would a device just need to be rebooted or if it will be unaffected. I'm wondering if work over the years to protect electronics from electrostatic shock would add some form of resistance to them?

 

17 minutes ago, swansont said:

You should be aware that a voltage spike is one manifestation of an EMP. Any electronics damaged by not having a surge protector could be an example. Protection from EMP can range from disturbances at a few hertz out to a GHz, through the air or through the wiring.

 

Campfire electric generators and EMP questions.

 

Are you a survivalist preparing for a nuclear war ?

 

I remember discussion after TSR2 was cancelled, because it was thought that the russian military electronic hardware was still way behind the West and all driven on valve technology, as was that of TSR2.

Because of this it was thought that they would survive an EMP much more than the West which was going wholesale semiconductor.

 

Swansont's point about voltage spike is the relevant parameter because semiconductors have quite low thresholds of overvoltage.
I have seen significant damage cause to semiconductor equipment by lightning strikes, which produce more localised EMPs.
There is no protection from this because it is atmouspherically borne.

Also protection devices are nearly all 'one-shot', which means that they are sacrificially damaged/destroyed in preference to the protected equipment and should be replaced after every active operation.

So one EMP or many ?

[GrahamF]

36 minutes ago, studiot said:

one EMP or many

I'm mostly just wanting to find any real world examples, such as published reaserch. There seems to be a disconnect between what people think happens in the days and years after a nuclear bomb strike and the observed reality, and I was exploring where else those disconnects occur. I haven't been able to find any Information on empirical testing on modern technology, however I'm aware any reaserch that does exist is likely classified. Modern technology is more durable on some ways and more fragile in others. I was wondering how changes over time would affect the technical - would improved anti-static measures and insulation do a sufficient job of protecting modern devices

45 minutes ago, studiot said:

Campfire electric generators and EMP questions.

 

Are you a survivalist preparing for a nuclear war

I asked this a few months ago and checked on the thread when I posted the other. I saw it had no responses so I poked it a little.

[sethoflagos]

18 minutes ago, studiot said:

Swansont's point about voltage spike is the relevant parameter because semiconductors have quite low thresholds of overvoltage.
I have seen significant damage cause to semiconductor equipment by lightning strikes, which produce more localised EMPs.
There is no protection from this because it is atmouspherically borne.

In the late '80s I had a spell of losing a bunch of expensive processor cards in a paper mill control room I'd put together. I had my own 'clean' mains transformer, robust 5 kVA voltage conditioners, all the recommended kit. 

Then one night, first the underground 5 MW 33 kV supply incomer blew up the road followed shortly after by the 10 MW incomer.

After they got fixed, no more fried processor units.

With that voltage level involved, no surge arrestor on earth is going to be fast enough to catch any spikes that leak through into the low voltage distribution. 

There seems to be a trend these days to lump EMP protection in with general exposure to high intensity ionising radiation, with components design to resist these challenges going under the umbrella of 'radiation hardened'. 

 

[swansont]

2 hours ago, GrahamF said:

I haven't been able to find any Information on empirical testing on modern technology

I’m not sure that the technology itself is modified. You can filter the power and put the device in a faraday cage.

[sethoflagos]

2 hours ago, GrahamF said:

I haven't been able to find any Information on empirical testing on modern technology, however I'm aware any reaserch that does exist is likely classified.

I've not looked at this for quite a few years, but for sure, in Britain the UKAEA and Defence industries were active in the field and that stuff rarely makes it into the public domain. You could try looking at what CERN have on this. 

[TheVat]

I have heard the US military has fairly robust Faraday shielding on its systems.  Probably also the case with Big Tech - server farms, etc.  At the residential level, there's the sealed metal box as a basic Faraday Cage (with padding so that the protected device is not in contact with the metal exterior).  In a last-minute situation where you know an attack is coming, you can toss stuff like backup drives in the microwave (probably would be a good idea to chop off the plug and power cord so it doesn't conduct a powerful EMP into the interior).  Also seems like a metal trash can with a snug-fitting lid would work, if you had bulkier electronics (again, padded).  I am also wondering if a box type FC would benefit from a grounding wire.  The trash can, I guess, one could just set on soil for a crude grounding?  

As far as empirical testing of my crude residential solutions, I expect the standard test of a FC would be to put a cellphone in there then call it.  

[swansont]

7 hours ago, GrahamF said:

any reaserch that does exist is likely classified

Some of it might be, such as the thresholds in certain frequency ranges, but finding electronics damaged by lower-frequency spikes, as from lightning, wouldn’t be. Nukes aren’t the only source of EMPs.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_pulse